Rafael Dominguez

The Stewpot in Downtown Dallas is best known for providing services to clients experiencing homelessness. For decades, the organization has also run a weekly club for kids whose families may be at risk for homelessness.

The program starts in elementary school and runs through high school. Raphael Dominguez went through the program, from first grade to high school. Like 80 percent of those who participate, he got a scholarship and went to college. Now he’s back, teaching at the program. (He also runs a video business.)

For State of the Arts this week, I talked with him about what the program meant to him. We also chatted about a new curriculum he’s been using, developed by the Museum of Street Culture. It’s designed to use art to teach kids about homelessness. The Museum, located in Encore Park across from

the Stewpot, plans to share the curriculum widely with schools. But the elementary kids in the Stewpot Saturday Kids Club are the first to test it out. The colorful drawings they created will be part of an art exhibition called “Picturing Homelessness.” And the “gallery” for this art show will be the windows of the Stewpot. So passers-by, including the adult clients of the Stewpot, will be able to enjoy it.

You can click above to listen to my interview with Dominguez.

And stay tuned: the middle school and high school kids in the Stewpot’s Children, Youth and Family Services program will also tackle the topic, using photography to create their own exhibits for “Picturing Homelessness.”